Why Google Panda May Be Your Worst Enemy

Most people like Panda bears. They look so cute and cuddly and although they are wild animals, they just don’t look like they could have any enemies. However, there is an electronic Panda that has changed the game of search engine optimization (SEO) content forever; and this little panda could actually be your worst enemy. Google Panda has had a huge impact on page ranks and SEO for hundreds of websites. Many of these sites that have been punished by Google Panda may in fact be innocent. They could be avoiding these penalties if they simply understood what it is that they are doing wrong.

What Is Google Panda?

Google Panda was released in 2011 with the goal of lowering the rank of “low-quality sites” and returning higher-quality sites to the top of the search results, where they belong. Over time, SEO has proven to be the most effective way to direct web traffic to one’s site. However, many people have learned to manipulate SEO and therefore end up higher on the Google search rankings. Panda attempts to thwart those tricks by weeding out those who have thin content. Panda looks for high quality content that visitors will actually find useful.

What Is Google Panda Looking For?

Google Panda watches for several key factors as it looks to weed out low-quality content. These include:

High Bounce rates – If visitors who enter your website immediately leave (or bounce) before viewing other pages on your site on a regular basis, this will increase you bounce rate. When visitors repeatedly don’t take the time to explore your site deeper this indicates that your content isn’t worthwhile and therefore it shouldn’t be ranked as a high-quality site.

Content Farming – A content farm is a company that utilizes many writers to create large amounts of content with the sole purpose of maximizing search engine algorithms. These companies aren’t necessarily concerned with the quality of the content and therefore it often contains the same text and information across many different media sources.

Duplicate Content – This is self-explanatory. You must be sure to create original content. If you are using content from other sources and repackaging it as your own, Panda will penalize you for it. Make sure you know where your content is coming from. If it isn’t original you will end up getting low-quality scores. Always hire the right people to create your content.

Scrapers Who Steal Content – Content scrapers are websites that use your information for their own websites without your permission. Some of these simply copy the info straight from your site, while others use software to post your information on their site as though it was their own. Make sure you know where you content is being created and that it is not being provided from a content scraper.

How To Get Back On Google Panda’s Good Side

There are many websites that are guilty of shady practices in order to get their sites on top of the search engines. However, if you’ve found yourself on Google Panda’s bad side and you sincerely weren’t trying to finagle the system, then what can you do to fix the problem? The most important thing you can so is to make sure you have the right people creating your content. If your content is just copied and pasted, it will most likely catch Google Panda’s attention. There is no substitute for high-quality original content. Next, make sure that you are not guilty of any of the other infractions listed above. If you are, then you need to take the necessary steps to fix the problems and get back on Google Panda’s good side. By fixing these issues you can create more original, high-quality content that will allow you to provide your customers and website visitors better service. This, should in turn, keep you from having high bounce rates and therefore keep you higher up in the rankings.